


I Did It For You

by shslphotographer



Category: The Walking Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 01:49:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2674382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shslphotographer/pseuds/shslphotographer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a stupid plan. When Jane's plan doesn't go as predicted, what becomes of the remaining survivors? Will she be able to find redemption, or will she settle for just surviving? Jane's story, taking place after S2E5 after Clementine shoots Kenny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After It All

“You made the right choice.”

 

Everything had gone downhill so fast. It wasn't all that long ago that Kenny had left the truck, giving Jane the opportunity to leave with Clementine and the baby. Clementine wouldn't accept that, though. Kenny was her friend, even after all the things he'd done, after everything he'd been through, he was still her friend. It wasn't hard to see that he was losing himself, his grip on reality, with the way he treated anyone who didn't agree with him. Anyone he deemed as an obstacle to what he wanted, never once considering the opinions or feelings of anyone else.

 

At least, that's how Jane saw it. After Sarita got bit escaping Carver's camp, Kenny started to show his darker side, lashing out on Clementine and placing the blame on her. He didn't want to listen to reason, he wanted to be angry. He apologized later, sure, but that doesn't matter once you go too far. With the way Kenny was acting, it was clear that there would be a time that wouldn't end in a heartfelt apology.

 

It became more obvious once Arvo became a part of their little group, against his own will no less. Kenny became flat-out abusive towards the kid, physically and mentally. Calling him names, pushing him down, and beating him down almost as badly as he had treated Carver. He was treating a teenager who made a few stupid mistakes the same way he treated the madman who took his eye, his friends, and his home. Who's to say he won't act out upon Clementine, or anyone else for that matter, when he puts the blame on them for something he doesn't like?

 

It's pretty unbelievable that everything came to be how it is now, all the same. Jane's plan wasn't exactly simple, and it wasn't wise in the slightest, but in the heat of the moment it's what she thought had to happen. Clementine obviously had no real knowledge on how to drive, and with the walker stuck in the windshield on top of that... she can't be blamed for crashing. With AJ in hand, Jane stepped out of the vehicle, noticing a few walkers were about to be on top of all of them. Clementine hadn't followed, however. The door on her side of the vehicle was stuck, and the windshield-laden walker blocked her escape from Jane's side.

 

“Clem! Get out of there!” Jane shouted to her confined friend, not knowing what else to do.

 

“I can't! The door is stuck!” Clementine gave in panicked response.

 

“Shit, there's more of them!” Jane exclaimed, to both Clementine and herself. “Hurry, Clem!”

 

Clementine pulled out her pistol in response, and shot the walker that was now inhabiting the windshield in the brain, eliminating it as a threat altogether. Even with a bullet wound in her shoulder, she's still a crack shot, surprisingly.

 

“Move!” was all Jane was able to say before the walkers were practically on top of her and AJ.

 

“Jane!” Clementine could be heard shouting. “Jane, wait!”

 

As the walkers were gaining on her, Jane could do nothing but look back at her friend.

 

Some would argue that Clementine should be the priority here, that everything should be dropped to come to her aid. She's just a little girl, after all. Jane knows better than most, though, that Clementine isn't just a little girl. That, in a situation like this, she can take care of herself if need be. Instead, she opts to get the oncoming walkers away from Clementine. Not to mention the infant she's now tasked with looking after for the immediate time being. Luckily for all three parties involved, nobody was injured in the car crash, making this a bit easier even with a baby in tow.

 

While she did feel terrible for leaving Clementine behind, it's not as if she had much of a choice. Jane took some solace in hearing another gunshot behind her as she continued forward, having confidence that it was Clementine taking out another walker. She'd be alright, Jane thought. Well, as alright as you can be when you're stranded out in a blizzard with no food, warmth, or shelter... her thoughts were quickly dazed as she saw one of those very things just up ahead.

 

Shelter. It must have been some sort of rest-stop, at least in the past. Complete with a playground outside, Jane could faintly make out a figure running to get inside of the building, angrily flinging the door open. It was too fast to be a walker, but at the same time too big to be Clementine. There was no mistaking it, the silhouette belonged to Kenny. Jane briefly contemplated going over there with AJ, but there's no doubt that Kenny would show his worst if she turned up without Clementine. This gave her an idea, an idea that might save her and Clementine from Kenny for good.

 

The plan was stupid, hasty, and reckless, but it would work. It _had_ to work. Jane circled around the building she found, holding AJ close to keep the both of them warm. Making sure to stay out of Kenny's potential sight line, she made her way over to a few wrecked cars that had certainly seen better days. Disregarding that thought, Jane glossed her eyes over the nearby area, she spotted a car that was decently sealed up, at least comparably to the others. Not seeing any better options, she began her march over to the vehicle in question. In the past few minutes, several gunshots had gone off in no particular pattern, AJ thankfully remaining quiet throughout the whole ordeal. Jane knew well enough that it must be Clementine, hopefully she finds her way to the rest stop safely. She needs to know what Kenny really is. What he's truly capable of, before she's on the receiving end.

 

As she approached the car she planned to hide AJ in, he began to cry. It was quiet, but unnerving just the same.

 

“Fuck...” Jane panicked in a hushed tone. “It's alright. Just keep quiet, alright? We'll... we'll be back for you soon...”

 

Her attempt at reassuring the infant seemed to work for the time being, as he went back to nothing but soft breathing soon after. “ _I can't believe a kid can be born into a world like this..._ ” Jane began to muse in her head. Quickly snapping out of her trance, she gently placed AJ in the back seat of the car, only needing a second's glance to determine it was walker-free. Jane prayed for the child to keep quiet long enough for her to convince Kenny to leave.

 

As Jane closed the door to the car, content with AJ's well being for the moment, she glanced over her shoulder and saw a figure, much smaller in frame, approaching the rest stop. From the hunched over stance to the movement pattern, it was obvious to Jane that this was Clementine. As the smaller girl disappeared from her sight and into the building ahead of her, Jane couldn't help but think...

 

“ _Well, it's now or never...”_

 

As she slowly made her way over to the rest stop, she began to feel just how bitter the cold truly was. Wrapping her arms in a pseudo-hug around herself didn't do much to ease the stinging pain the cold was causing, especially to her face. She couldn't help but begin to worry about how she was going to get back to Howe's Hardware with Clementine and AJ after the fallout with Kenny that was undoubtedly about to happen. Even still, she had confidence that they would get that far. She didn't imagine to what lengths Kenny would truly go when pushed to his limit. Right now, though, Jane had to focus. If this plan was going to work, she's going to have to sell her facade to Kenny, and make sure Clementine doesn't get involved.

 

As Jane approached the front doors to the rest stop, passing a few signs that had nothing of interest to her scrawled out on them, she spotted a familiar figure inside who called out in a familiar voice, and another familiar figure run back inside via the rear entrance.

 

“Wait!” Clementine shouted, eyes locked on Jane and voice directed at Kenny.

 

“Oh, thank god...” Jane could barely hear Kenny speak over the raging blizzard.

 

“Jane, you okay!?” Kenny spoke without hesitation, concern seemingly genuine. Too bad for everyone involved that his attitude would soon change very quickly. Jane only gave a sorrowful glance downwards and away from the man speaking to her.

 

“Where's the kid?” Kenny asked in the same worrisome tone he had just used. Jane gave no response, only continuing her stare into the floor.

 

“Jane, where is he!?” Kenny barked out, not making any attempt at masking his absolute shock.

 

“Oh, my god...” Clementine was heard, visibly distressed as well.

 

“He's...” Jane began to speak, but quickly closed back up, knowing she can't say any more without jeopardizing the plan.

 

“What are you sayin'...?” Kenny spoke softly, a clear sign that a chord was struck inside him. The three remaining survivors and the rest stop they inhabited as a whole fell eerily silent for what felt like forever, Kenny and Clementine throwing panicked glances around while Jane held her dormant, regretful face.

 

“No...” Kenny spoke up, breaking the unbearable silence while his body visibly tensed up in a growing frenzy of panic and rage. He slowly paced backwards, seemingly ready to bolt in an instant, his eyes firmly locked on the raging blizzard outside. It's too late to back down now. The plan was working, Jane thought.

 

“NO!” Kenny snapped, marching out the front doors of the beat down shelter, stepping into the relentless snowstorm. As he walked by, Jane gave a regretful stare into Clementine's eyes.

 

“No... not again... not again...” Clementine tried reassuring herself. Jane didn't know what she meant, but didn't think too long on it. After all, there wasn't any time. This was happening now, and Jane had to make sure that Clem didn't get involved, as this wasn't going to end pleasantly.

 

To Clementine's surprise, Jane suddenly has a complete change of face, changing from her regretful look she had moments ago to a much more important tone. It was obvious she knew something was happening, but not if she understood what.

 

“Clem. Look at me.” Jane spoke blankly, kneeling down to meet Clementine face to face, placing her hands on her shoulders in an attempt at reassurance. Clementine's gaze met Jane's in a look of total confusion.

 

“No matter what happens, just stay out of it.” Jane instructed, glancing over her shoulder out the direction Kenny left moments ago. She didn't see him yet, but she was more than aware of how little time she had. Content with a glance, she turned back to meet Clementine once again.

 

“Okay?” Jane asked simply.

 

“I... I don't understand!” Clementine said, voice audibly cracking under the stress. Jane felt bad having to put her through something like this, but she knew Clementine was strong. This was just something that had to happen.

 

Rather than give a reply, Jane glanced back over her shoulder just as she did previously. As if on queue, Kenny was not far off, rapidly approaching the rest stop where the two girls wait. Jane once again swiftly returns her gaze to Clementine.

 

“You have to trust me.” She affirmed. “You're gonna see what he _really_ is.”

 

Jane once again returns her glance over to Kenny, who was now seconds away from their shelter, a look of pure disgust and loathe painted on his face. Needing no more than defensive instinct, Jane stands up and begins to back up towards the rear of the rest stop just as Kenny enters from the front, the two locking glares.

 

“Jane, get out of here!” Clementine warns, wise enough to see what will take place otherwise.

 

“Clem-”

 

Kenny began to storm towards Jane, his rage incomparable to anything she had witnessed before. “NOW!” Clem begged, holding her arms forward in an attempt to stop Kenny. Not at all phased, Kenny shoves Clementine out of his way, almost knocking her to the floor.

 

“Get out of my way...” was all Kenny said to Clementine as he advanced further towards Jane.

 

“Kenny...” Clementine said, possibly unaware her words were futile. It hadn't stopped her from trying, though.

 

Kenny, now in reach of Jane takes a swing at her with his fist, as she less than gracefully ducks under the punch, the both of them tripping slightly from their actions. Jane takes this opportunity to position herself at the front of the store, the two of them having reversed positions from when Kenny had entered.

 

“How could you kill a FUCKING CHILD!?” Kenny screamed, taking his stand against Jane's.

 

“I didn't kill him! It was an accident, Kenny!” Jane shouted back, drawing her knife from it's holster as she made her own stand.

 

“BULLSHIT!” Kenny retorted, starting to make a move, but backing down at the sight of Jane's knife.

 

“I won't back down from you, Kenny.” Jane said, beginning to tense up.

 

“Shut up!” Kenny hissed.

 

“Kenny, let her talk!” Clementine argued.

 

“I'm done talkin', Clem.” Kenny growled.

 

“Clem, stay back.” Jane warned. If things were going to get violent, Clem needed to stay out of the crossfire.

 

The two adults bore holes into each others eyes, never once looking away from one another.

Eventually, as Kenny finally seems to calm down a bit, Jane begins to sheath her weapon.

 

“Don't come near me, you son of a bitch.” She spat. Whether it had been the words she had just uttered, or the act of her sheathing the knife, something caused Kenny to lunge immediately after, pinning Jane up against one of the windows of the building.

 

“KENNY!” Clementine shouted, her words meaningless in his current state.

 

“Get... the fuck... off!” Jane struggled to speak, eventually bringing their fight to a stalemate by digging her fingers into her attacker's eyes, knocking off his hat and makeshift eye-patch.

 

“STOP! PLEASE!” Clementine began to plead. After her words weren't working, she kicked Kenny in the back of his knee, giving Jane the chance to break free and have the advantage.

 

Kenny falls to the ground after Jane throws a punch to his face, pinning him down by sitting on his stomach and beginning to beat his face, giving him punch after punch.

 

“JANE!” Clementine shouts in a voice mixed with fear, confusion, and anger.

 

Before she can deliver more than a few blows to his face, Jane is yanked off of Kenny by Clementine, freeing him from the older woman's assault.

 

Kenny got up, starting an advance towards Jane. Acting on instinct, the woman grabbed for her knife and slashed at Kenny, giving the man a huge gash to his stomach which began to bleed immensely.

 

“GAAAAAH!” Kenny shrieked in pain, clutching the fresh wound on his abdomen with one arm in pain.

 

“Oh my god!” Clementine yelled in fear, unsure on how to act.

 

“This is all your fuckin' fault!” Jane hissed at Kenny, blinded in her own fear and anger.

 

Kenny began to back up, into the enraged blizzard. Jane followed him closely, knife in hand.

 

“Piece a' shit...” Kenny spat, out of breath. The both of them looked unworldly agitated, either party was liable to strike at any moment.

 

“Just go.”

 

“I ain't goin' nowhere.”

 

Clementine, disobeying what she was told earlier by Jane, moved in between the two of them, holding one arm in each of their directions. Acting without thinking, Clementine grabbed Kenny by the coat and plead to him to quit.

 

“Stop! You don't have to do this!”

 

“Get out of my way.” Kenny said harshly, unrelentingly pushing Clementine out of his way. As the young girl fell to the ground, Jane took a swing at Kenny, the latter barely reacting in time to dodge the punch. He then grabbed Jane and flings the both of them into one of the signs, breaking it and resulting in them both falling to the ground. Jane's knife was now out of arm's reach for either of them, being thrown away from her during the fall.

 

“I'll fuckin' kill you!” Kenny growled out, beginning to crawl towards the fallen knife. Before he can reach it, Jane grabbed him from behind and pulls him down, digging her fingers deep into his eyes in an attempt to gauge them out.

 

“AAIAAAAAIGH!” Kenny could only let out a shriek of pain as Jane's fingers dug into his eye sockets, not receiving any mercy even with one eye already destroyed.

 

“How's that fuckin' feel, huh!?” Jane taunted, ignoring his cries.

 

“STOP! HE'S HAD ENOUGH!” Clementine yelled, now up on two feet.

 

“LISTEN TO ME!” The young girl begged. Once again, her words had no effect, forcing her to resort to grabbing Jane by the arm and yanking her off once more, freeing Kenny from his gory torment.

 

Seizing the moment, Kenny grabbed Jane's knife while both girls were distracted, bringing the blade into Jane's left thigh. Jane jolted backwards with a shriek of pain, knocking Clementine onto the ground once more, the eleven year old's pistol falling nearby.

 

“Fuckin'... baby-killer...” Kenny scoffed.

 

“Goddamn it!” Jane shouted in pain.

 

Kenny now had Jane pinned down in a scene that resembled the one that took place inside moments ago. However, Kenny was at a greater advantage than Jane was previously, with her own knife ready to be plunged into her heart. Losing her grip for just a second, Kenny managed to poke the tip of the knife slightly into her chest, puncturing Jane's skin and making a pool of blood where it was penetrated. She holds him back while she can, struggling, knowing she can't hold forever.

 

“I will fuckin' KILL you!” Kenny screamed angrily, struggling to bring the knife down and end their conflict.

 

“I... knew you would!” Jane responded, praying for something, anything, to save her.

 

In what she believed would be her final moments, Jane began to wonder how she got into this mess. She came back. She came back after she told herself time and time again that she shouldn't. It always leads to a bad ending, Jane always told herself. She came back for her, though. She began to care about Clementine like she would her own sister. Now, she was going to die trying to protect her from a madman. Maybe that was the best way to go, to try and help someone you care about?

 

“Just... fuckin'... die...” Kenny complained. “ain't gonna... let you...”

 

No, that wouldn't work. If she died, Clementine would still be stuck with Kenny. Plus, she wasn't so fond of the prospect of dying herself. Yet, here she was, with a knife to her heart and a madman insistent on finishing the job that she couldn't.

 

“Please. Please...” Jane heard Clementine over the constant grunting of both Kenny and herself as they fought over the latter's life, the young girl sounding as if she was in tears. She didn't focus too hard on her cries, though, in fear that Kenny might just finish her off.

 

Not about to give up her life without a fight, Jane continued to struggle against Kenny, the man leaving no breathing room between the knife and her body. After what felt like hours of strife, it felt like Kenny had won. Jane was on her last legs when, --BANG, a single shot rang through the air.

 

Jane felt a weight lifted as Kenny rose upward, clutching his chest and moving the lethal knife away from her. It took her only a moment to put together that it was Clementine who shot Kenny, who was now undoubtedly fatally wounded as he fell to his side, blood oozing out of the fresh wound.

 

As Jane began to get up, she noticed as Clementine stood up and started to approach the two of them.

 

“Are.. are you okay?” Clementine asked, worry genuine and voice heartbroken.

 

“Yeah... yeah... I think so...” Jane replied with heavy breaths as she stood up on her knees.

 

The golden-brown eyed child made her way to Kenny, tears welling up in her eyes.

 

“Clem...” Kenny spoke softly, his voice weary and defeated. “You made the right choice...”

 

Clementine felt her face begin to flood with tears, it was no secret she truly was heartbroken. She interlocked her smaller hands with Kenny's as he continued to speak, even on the brink of death.

 

Kenny let out a weak cough before continuing. “I let you down... I let everyone down.” He said solemnly.

 

“Just-- just hang on, Kenny...please...” Clementine wept, tightening her grip on the dying man's hand.

 

“No... no. You're better off without me.” Kenny assured the younger girl, his breathing getting weaker by the second.

 

The whole world fell quiet after Kenny spoke, the only noise being the endless howling of the snowstorm. Jane remained silent, locked onto the scene taking place between Kenny and the younger girl both adults were trying to protect. It should have been obvious that her stupid plan would end with someone dying, but it's too late for that now. Both girls eyes locked onto Kenny, as he started to speak once more.

“We almost made it...” Kenny mused. Even on the brink of death, the man managed to lift his head slightly to meet Clementine's gaze.

 

“We were close, weren't we...?” Kenny questioned, following with a sickly wheeze, his face falling soon after.

 

“I thought I wanted this... asked for it... so many times.” He paused.

 

“Now that it's happenin'... I'm scared.” The now pale Kenny admitted, letting out a string of coughs devoid of any life.”

 

“It's okay, Kenny...” Clementine attempted to reassure, more visibly upset about Kenny's death than the man himself.

 

“You're... you're going to see your family again. Sarita...” The eleven year old choked up slightly at the memories of her former friends. “Katjaa and Duck... you're going to see them again.” She finished.

 

Finally out of energy to keep it up, Kenny's head fell slowly to the ground, his body sprawled out as if it was a hot, summer night.

 

“Ohh, you're always good for a smile...” Kenny said, the joy fading from his face quickly after, taking one last, desperate breath before passing on.

 

Clementine removes her hand from her now-deceased friend as his eyes slowly shut. She then followed suit, closing her eyes and sobbing to herself silently.

 

Jane kept quiet out of respect, knowing that this was her fault. The silence was persistent, the only sound being the familiar roars of the icy winds, which were all but drowned out by the two girl's ears at this point.

 

This silence, however, was disrupted by an all too familiar wailing. Jane turned her head, confirming to herself the source of the crying was AJ, whom she had hidden in a run-down car not ten minutes prior. Clementine was aware of the sound as well, her frostbitten face lit up in pure disbelief. Jane could only give the younger girl a look of regret, seemingly begging for sympathy.

 

No words spoken between the two, Clementine stood up and began to sprint to the source of the noise. Jane walked at a much slower pace behind her, watching as she comically tripped once but otherwise reached the car unscathed.

 

“Oh my god! AJ!”

 

Clementine flung open the car door without regard to anything else, the baby she'd been convinced was dead was now wrapped up tight in her arms, no longer wailing and instead making incoherent coos and gurgles. The young girl's ice cold face began to drip tears of happiness as she couldn't help but give a huge smile.

 

“Are you okay!?” She questioned the infant, not expecting a verbal response.

 

As Jane closed the distance between herself and the two younger survivors, her heart filled with dread, knowing what she just caused and how this couldn't possibly end well.

 

Clementine's face went from beaming with joy to a spiteful glare instantaneously, boring holes into the brunette woman who now stood before her.

 

“He's alive!?” She questioned, betrayal laden in her voice.

 

Jane felt the urge to shut down, panic beginning to set in. She knew she couldn't though. The plan had worked so far, somewhat, and now she was on the final stretch. There isn't an easy way to tell Clementine what truly happened, but she was about to find out regardless.

 

“I understand if you're upset... AJ was never in any danger. I was just... going to try to talk you into coming with me.” Jane explained, telling what she believed as the truth.

 

“I just thought if you saw Kenny like that... you'd know we'd have to leave him.”

 

Clementine flashed her glance down at the bundle of blanket she held in her hand, holding him close to keep him warm. She then returned her glance to Jane, her expression more hurt than anything.

 

“Look, Clem. I'm sorry. I didn't think Kenny would go that far.” Jane paused, gaining no response other than the same stare.

 

“But it's over now. We're all safe. We're going to be okay.” The older woman said, attempting to comfort Clementine.

 

Clementine fell silent for a moment, possibly needing to take in everything that happened in such a short span of time. Once more, the familiar howls of the wind were the only thing heard, even AJ had fallen asleep.

 

“Upset!? YOU'RE FUCKING CRAZY!” Clementine screamed, letting all her emotions spill out. “How could you do this!?” She demanded an answer, Jane being temporarily lost for words before responding.

 

“I... I had to do it, Clem.” Jane confirmed, “You saw how he reacted. I had to show you what he was capable of...” she said, trailing off.

 

“So you put AJ in danger... and got my friend killed... just to prove a point!?” Clementine retaliated in utter disbelief.

 

“It was a stupid plan... I should never have lied to you.” Jane spoke sorrowfully, admitting her mistake. “But I thought it was the only way you'd see.”

 

Clementine's face turned to shock as she looked back over to where Kenny lay.

 

“Oh my god. Kenny...” Clementine cried, eyes locked away from the older woman who lead to his demise.

 

“You have to forgive me!” Jane pleaded to her, voice audibly cracking as she spoke.

 

“Please... we can leave all this behind us.”

Clementine stood still, face void of emotion.

 

“Please... I did this for you... For us. We're free now...”

 

As Jane continued to beg forgiveness, Clementine spoke spitefully.

 

“I'm not going ANYWHERE with you.” Clementine stated matter of fact, disgust clear in her tone. She turned away from Jane, AJ in hand, and began to follow the road, not looking back once.

 

“Clem, please!” The brunette shouted, hoping to catch the attention of the only person she had left.

 

“I did this for you!” Jane yelled in Clementine's direction, as the young girl continued unperturbed down the path she followed, not paying heed to any of the former's words.

 

“I can't do this alone... okay? Is that what you want to hear?” Jane begged, no longer being able to mask her emotions.

 

“...Clem?” She whispered pitifully one last time, now accepting that there was no use in trying. The last person she had, the person she came back for, gone. Worst of all, she had nobody to blame but herself.

 

Jane fell to her knees as she watched the last person she cared about determinedly walk forward, out of her life. She was strong, but she wasn't going to survive alone. She had sentenced the girl she was trying to save to her death, the baby as well. Not to mention Kenny, who was dead due to her plan.

 

Some plan that was. Maybe she would've been better off giving into Kenny's foolish ambitions to find Wellington with no real supplies. Maybe not.

 

One thing was certain: she should have never come back. She should have left while she was ahead, before growing attached to someone else just to have this cruel world drag them away once again. She thought about just sitting here on her knees until death took her away, but that's just not like her. Even without a purpose, Jane always kept pushing forward. To survive, if for no other reason.

 

Somewhat reluctantly, she pushed up off her knees, both relief and heartache setting in as she accepted that Clementine was no longer in view. _“She'll survive. I just hope her luck hasn't run out just yet...”,_ Jane thought, failing to comfort herself.

 

Even being left alone, her plan hadn't changed. Carver's Camp was her best bet. She knew where it was, generally at least, and it would have food and shelter until she had somewhere better. Gathering her thoughts, she looked over her shoulder to see Kenny, up and moving.

 

Considering walking away for a moment, Jane gave in to her pity. She couldn't leave him here like that after what she caused, even if she didn't exactly like the man. Unsheathing the knife that almost ended her earlier, she approached the now undead Kenny, aiming to put him out of any misery for good.

 

Opting to knock him over by the knee and finish the job with a quick stab in the back of the head, Jane lifted her leg preparing to topple the shambling corpse. Instead, she wound up toppling over backwards, letting out a small shriek of pain in the process. Now that the adrenaline had mostly worn off, Jane's attention was brought to the deep wound Kenny had left earlier in their brawl.

 

Luckily for her, Kenny hadn't noticed her, instead his corpse continued to aimlessly wander, slowed by the raging, cold blizzard. With her right leg this time, Jane brought her foot into the walker's knee, bringing it crashing down not dissimilar to how she fell moments ago. Raising her knife above the back of the corpse's head, the survivor muttered a simple “...Sorry.” under her breath. It's not as if the corpse heard it before being finished off with one swift, clean stab through the skull.

 

After finishing the job, Jane stood up and scanned the perimeter for any other threats. Satisfied with her search, she made her way back to the road. Following it south was her only chance, Jane thought to herself.

 

With no food, no warmth, and no help for her wound, she began the press onward, following the road in the direction opposite of what Clementine and AJ had taken. All she could do now was hope that her own luck hadn't run out yet, as from here on out, there was no going back.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Gone South

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the disastrous confrontation with Kenny, Jane continues onward, following the path south to Howe's Hardware.

 Approximately 860 Days in, Early Afternoon

 

It had been several hours since the disastrous events that took place earlier in the morning. Jane had continued following the road south since she departed from there, not looking back or stepping off track once. She stepped onward, despite the increasingly painful wound in her thigh practically begging for her to stop and rest.

 

She was going to have to find something soon, or be doomed to the same fate as most everyone else in this ruined world. With Kenny not having anything worth taking on his person, and Clementine taking the minuscule assortment of supplies that Mike, Bonnie, and Arvo hadn't made off with, Jane not objecting to the younger girl keeping them, she was going to have to hope once again that her luck wasn't out yet, something she loathed being reduced to.

 

As she continued south, the lone survivor reflected back on her plan. The plan that costed her everything, and probably doomed all the lives of all four parties involved in the end. In hindsight, knowing Kenny's violent tendencies, how did she not predict it would get physical? Jane felt like a fool thinking that she could ever reason with the broken man. That was the whole goal of the plan, to show Clementine that _nobody_ could reason with him.

 

Now she was gone, the poor eleven year old tasked with taking care of a baby on top of all the other burdens she carried. Jane couldn't help but think that, even with the little supplies she carried, even with how strong of a person Clementine really was, that she was as good as dead. She wished that Clementine had gone with her, because even if the young survivor had never forgiven Jane for what she did, she would still be better off. Then again, how can you get by without trust?

 

Jane paused in place for a moment before continuing her stride, reflecting on the words Clementine had told her a few days earlier.

* * *

 

“Look. I'm gonna level with you.” Jane spoke up, breaking the silence of the forest as the two girls continued to scout for the remaining members of their group.

 

“There's no real point in scouting ahead. And... You should know that finding your friends... that's a shot in the dark.” The older woman said with remorse.

 

“I don't know about that.” Clementine said back in response. “We shouldn't give up before we've even looked.”

 

“Okay, but...” Jane began, expecting a response not dissimilar to the one Clementine gave. “I wanted to talk to you, away from them.”

 

Clementine took her attention away from the road ahead, giving a curious glance to her companion.

 

“You wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't smart, but I still... I just gotta warn you.”

 

The two of them paused their hike and turned to face one another, as Jane continued her speech.

 

“That group is cracking. I've seen it before. And, well... a lot of times, it's better to be on your own.” She finished, and turned to resume their trek.

 

“I know you see what I'm talking about.” Jane stated, assured by the footsteps behind her that Clementine was close behind.

 

“You don't wanna be here when they start... turning on each other. Turning on you.” She warned.

 

“You know, bad stuff happens to you when you're alone, too.” Clementine spoke, sounding angry at the way Jane was writing the rest of the group, their friends, off.

 

“But your odds are better.” Jane shot back.

 

“There's nobody to watch your back. And when something does happen, there's nobody there to help you.” Clementine argued.

 

“How much help is Kenny going to be? What he's going through... he's more of a liability than anything.” Jane replied in a more sympathetic tone, being also somewhat surprised at the younger girl's response. She paused for a moment before continuing. “And Rebecca's 'situation' is not making things better back there.” She finished, motioning her fingers into quotations to put emphasis on the one word.

 

“You get enough broken people together... and all you're gonna get are broken decisions.” The older girl continued, until she was cut off when her friend spoke up.

 

“How can you get along without trusting anyone?” Clementine asked curiously.

 

“That's exactly _how_ I get along.” Jane replied in a snarky tone.

* * *

 

Thinking back to that day, that conversation, brought Jane into deep thought. What made her so distrustful of anyone? Was it all the times she'd witnessed someone leave someone else to die to save their own skin, just to die later? Was it all the times she saw people thieve, violate, murder, and worse, all for their own benefit?

 

As much as she wanted to tell herself that was the answer, she knew in reality it wasn't. Despite the cold exterior she kept up, it wasn't due to how damaged she was from the brutality of others, from having to destroy other lives savagely to survive. Her mistrust, her loner attitude, everything, it all stemmed from a different source.

 

After so long living in a real-life hell, you'd think you'd get used to death. You'd be used to having the people you care about most ripped away from you in a heartbeat. Some people can, but not Jane. Every person she'd met, every group she'd traveled with, each friend and family member she made a pitiful attempt for survival with... all of their stories ended with a sad goodbye.

 

It happened to Jamie, and it happened to Sarah. It happened to their whole group, and now it's going to happen to Clementine, taking AJ down with her. Jane couldn't help but place the blame on herself, for sending them out to meet their fates alone. What was she supposed to do, though? Keep her mouth shut and let Kenny drag the four of them on an aimless road trip? Maybe that could have been better, at least then Clementine could have died with her friends.

 

Sadly, that isn't what happened, and now Jane was here. In the middle of who-knows-where, marching through the relentless snowstorm with no realistic destination. If she even survives another day, maybe she can meet a nice group of people willing to nurse her back to health, she thought. She can start over once again with a new group of friends. A new family.

 

Just to have them all torn apart from each other, from her. Just how it always ended.

 

Even still, Jane felt like she wanted to survive. It felt almost like she was obligated, really. Was it fear? Possibly, she couldn't quite figure it out, or pinpoint a reason. The only thing she could truly focus on was how hungry she was, how much her body hurt, and how goddamn freezing she was.

 

In what had to be a miracle, a silhouette could be seen in the distance. Squinting her eyes to try and make out some details, it seemed to be something similar to an RV, a bit bigger than the usual one. Briefly, her mind remembered back to days before the world went to shit. Her parents took her and her sister on a camping trip one summer, and she remembered complaining how it was “the worst thing ever”, how she'd rather sit at home where it's comfortable. How ironic those thoughts were now, she thought. Her nostalgia was cut short as her body ached and shivered and her stomach let out a pitiful growl.

 

Focusing of more current events, she began to ask herself what she was to do when she arrived at the RV. What if it the door was locked? What if there were people inside? What if there weren't? She couldn't tell who - or what – was inside, as the whole of the RV was buried under snow. In fact, she was only sure it was an RV due to the obvious shape of the snow pile, and the visible door.

 

Hearing rustling in the trees to her left, she began to accelerate her pace towards the RV. Jane didn't concern herself too long with what created the noise, whether it be wind, a walker, a person, or an animal, or who knows. Her thoughts drifted back to the RV. She found it somewhat peculiar the door was totally visible, cleared of snow, as if someone had been there recently. Jane prepared herself for the worst as the RV began to be much more visibly, it was maybe 50 feet away. Just a bit longer, she told herself.

 

Attention totally focused on the shelter, she hadn't noticed the return of the rustling bushes behind her. As a result, she also wasn't prepared when a sharp pain flew down the back of her head, knocking her down to the ground, barely conscious, starving, cold, and somehow in more pain than before.

* * *

 

Still on the brink of unconsciousness, opening her eyes only met her with a blinding white. Assuming it to be the never-ending snow, Jane let her body relax a bit. She didn't have the energy required to move at this point, but she could hear what sounded like people. Did they live in the RV? Were they who attacked her?

 

“Shit. Shit, shit..” A somewhat deep, masculine voice said quietly, sounding panicked.

 

“What the hell!? Why'd you go and do that?! She could be dead for all we know... damn it!” A more feminine voice with a thick accent whispered harshly.

 

“Look, I was just making sure... shit. Just... just help me pick her up, yeah? We'll take her back to the gift shop, and then...” The deeper voice said.

 

“...and then what? She might be dead, for all we know! Why'd you have to go and attack her!?” The second voice, presumably a young woman, asked.

 

“I was just trying to HELP. You know that! Come the fuck on, you really think she woulda been better off dealing with the crazy fuckers in that RV?” The first voice shot back.

 

“Look...” The second voice said with a sigh. “I'm sorry for goin' off like that. We just... we don't got time for this. Help me pick her up. Grab under her arm, should be easier to carry her that way...” She finished in response.

 

“Yeah... yeah, I got it. Let's get the hell outta here.” The first voice said in agreement.

 

Anything after that was unintelligible to Jane, who was now mostly limp, only moving due to what she guessed were the owners of the two voices she had overheard. From what she heard, the two people who attacked her had intentions to help, and they fear whoever lives in that RV.

 

At least they had the decency to not leave her out the the blizzard after knocking her out. Jane could only hope that this wasn't the death of her, although at this particular moment she didn't know how much it would bother her if it was. Before anything else, she then drifted into a sleep, not knowing when she'd next wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot shorter than the last, but I felt like this was a good point to cut it off. Chapters 3 and on I intend to be around 2500-3500 words, but don't quote me on that. Also, who could the mystery attackers be? Well, it's probably more obvious than you think. Thank you for reading, please let me know if you enjoyed, your feedback is appreciated and more than welcomed. :)


	3. Dropout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane wakes up after being ambushed earlier in the day, and is surprised to learn who her attackers were.

Episode 1: After It All – Part 3: Dropout

 

**Approx. 860 Days In, Mid Evening**

 

Cornered... surrounded... trapped. Jane felt trapped. An endless expansion of white all around was the only thing that met her eye. No visible walls, floor, sky, objects, people... nothing. She wondered if this was a dream, if she was dead. “No, I can't be.”, she thought. This all felt way too real for it to be a dream. She began to desperately search for a way out. Anywhere but here, she didn't know where she wanted to be but she knew it wasn't here.

 

Tried and tried she did, but it was to no avail. Every step she took felt like a mile but at the same time seemed to yield her no progress, as she would wind up right where she started. Her torment continued for what felt like hours until finally, something caught her eye. A figure, human in shape, was approaching her at a rapid pace. Was it a friendly face? Her parents, her sister Jaime, or Clementine? This really must be a dream, but it didn't feel like she had any control over what was happening.

 

To her dismay, it was not any of the people she hoped it to be. It was the familiar figure of a long-since broken man, the familiar face of the man who's death she caused not hours ago.

 

Kenny.

 

Seemingly taking notice to Jane at the same time she did him, Kenny, or his doppelganger rather, started to advance towards her. As the supposedly-deceased man closed the distance between himself and Jane, she came to the conclusion that she was not having a dream, but a nightmare. She tried desperately to escape once more, but it felt as if some otherworldly force held her in place. She couldn't help but ask herself, was she going to atone for taking another man's life with her own?

 

Her adversary was now standing face to face with her, leaving very little breathing room. He stood there with no visible emotion in his face, an uncanny look of emptiness painted onto him. Jane did not make any attempt to struggle away, not breaking her gaze from the others. It felt less like she couldn't move, and more like there was no point in trying. Without so much as a warning, the figure that appeared as Kenny pushed Jane to the ground with ridiculous force. He then pulled out the very same knife that almost ended her life earlier that day, and brought it down with no effort, straight into her heart.

* * *

 

Jane jolted upwards almost instinctively, placing her hands on her heart, taking heavy, fast breaths. She looked down to her chest to see that there was no knife, only the dried blood pool from earlier. She took notice that her jacket was gone, her sleeveless black undershirt being visible wherever her exposed skin was not. In retrospect this was not ideal clothing for the current weather, not to mention the apocalypse that has been almost three years strong, but that's why she wore her signature orange jacket. The panicked woman shot her head around the room curiously, doing it a bit too fast as she felt an agonizing pain shoot through the back of her skull.

 

Repressing the urge to let out anything more than a quiet groan, Jane flashed back on the events that led her here. What just happened must've been a nightmare, she was sure of that much, but before that... someone ambushed her. Snuck up from behind and knocked her out with a hard blow to the back of her head. Rubbing her head where she was struck, she felt a slightly damp bandage that hurt to the touch. “God damn it...” she mumbled to herself.

 

She then took a moment to examine the location around her. The floor she had woken up on was hard, made of some type of wood and was corroded to hell. To the right was a fireplace, lit with a small yet passionate, constant flame that was comforting and warm. Whoever brought her here wanted to help, at least that seemed like the case. Glancing downward to her own legs, Jane caught a bandage wrapped around her wound she had gained earlier in her fight with Kenny. It was done rather shoddily, and the bandages were a more sickly color than the wooden flooring beneath her. Hopefully they were clean, Jane thought to herself.

 

Continuing her gaze over to the left, there were several things that caught her attention. First, the doorway which she and her captors-turned-saviors had entered from, evident from the fresh snow laying in front of it. Second, the building was somewhat small, due to the looks of it, Jane guessed it must have been some sort of gift shop in the past. She remembered that the voices of her supposed kidnappers talked about a gift shop, as well.

 

Her final object of curiosity was a person sitting at the counter, struggling to open a can of some sort. The person, presumably a man by the body shape, was clothed in a dull, grey hoodie and typical blue jeans to match. The thing that shook Jane the most, though, was the man under the clothes. It wasn't some stranger who had been her captor.

 

It was Mike.

 

The same Mike who left her, a little girl, and a baby, with little to no supplies, all because they were worried about one man's actions. As mad as Jane was, she partially couldn't blame them for fearing Kenny, after what he did. She did bring that onto herself with her... questionable plan, though. What was she supposed to do, though? Jane's mind was a blur as her thoughts flip-flopped in her head, she didn't even see as Mike made his way over, kneeling down next to her.

 

“You're awake! I was starting to get worried that you weren't getting up...” Mike said with a small, forced laugh.

 

Jane couldn't find any words escaping her mouth, so she settled for confused look at the man now sitting cross-legged next to her.

 

“You, uh... probably want me to explain, huh?” He said awkwardly.

 

“That's be a start.” Jane spoke, finding her expression gradually changing from one of confusion to anger.

 

The man's face fell to the floor slightly, dripping with guilt. “I don't really know where to start, now that I'm thinking about it.” He said, picking his head up slightly as he spoke.

 

Before either person could speak, another figure entered the building, opening and promptly shutting the same door Jane took notice to earlier. The figure quickly searched through a nearby bag before Mike spoke up, catching their attention.

 

“Hey, Bonnie.” Mike said simply.

 

“Hey, Mike.” The newcomer, now revealed to be Bonnie, gave in response.

 

“I'm guessin' you didn't find anything, then?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Yeah, I figured as much...” Mike said with a drawn out sigh. “I'm worried. Where the hell do you think he went? How'd we lose him?”

 

“It happened too fast, don't beat yerself up over it. We'll find him.” Bonnie said reassuringly.

 

“I hope so...” Was the only response Mike gave before the room fell silent for a few moments more.

 

“So, I see Sleepin' Beauty here is awake, now.” Bonnie said with a warm smile, breaking the silence.

 

“You know, I sorta wish I wasn't. God, this hurts like hell...” Jane commented, motioning to the back of her head.

 

“Sorry.” Mike said quickly. “I just panicked. There's these guys, in that RV, and we... I was gonna let you walk over there, I thought you were a stranger so I didn't think much of it. But then I saw it was you, so I though... uh...” He stopped and glanced towards Bonnie, lost for words and looking for support.

 

“I suggested we grab ya from behind, but he didn't wanna risk you yellin' and drawin' attention to us.” Bonnie said. “Before I had a chance to do anythin', he already had ya knocked out.” She picked a pistol out of her pocket, mimicking the gesture Mike had done earlier to knock Jane unconscious. “You look like you're dyin', Jane. When was the last time ya slept? Or ate, for that matter?”

 

“I haven't eaten in... hours? Days? God, I don't know... Last time I slept was in that shitty house on the lake. I only got a few hours before, well--”

 

“Yeah, I getcha. Look, I'm gonna go fix you up somethin' to eat, so you stay put. Mike will answer your questions in the mean time... I'm sure you've got some.” Bonnie said, cutting off Jane before she could finish and leaving the room before Mike could object. She seemed to feel awfully guilty, but then again this wasn't the first time Jane had seen her like that.

 

“So-o-o-o-o....” Mike said awkwardly, “What happened to Clem? Is she...”

 

“She was fine. Gunshot didn't hit anything important, luckily. The bullet went right through. And if it didn't, we didn't find it.” Jane replied matter-of-fact.

 

“Yeah... that's good. Hopefully. Where is she now? Kenny? The baby?” The man asked, standing up to add more fuel to the fireplace.

 

Jane contemplated what to give as an answer to Mike's questions. She considered lying, but what was the point? They were scared of Kenny, not her, and if they had ill intentions they would have done something already. She decided to answer him directly, with the truth, as difficult as it may be.

 

Mike made it obvious he took notice to the woman's uncomfortable expression at his question. “Shit. I'm sorry. Did he kick you out after we left, or what?”

 

“Kenny is dead. I got him killed.”

 

“Holy shit. What the hell happened? Are the kids dead too!?” He said, voice mixed with concern and curiosity.

 

“After you guys took off, I took Clem and the kid into the car. Kenny went off into the woods after you for a few seconds, or minutes, I don't know. Didn't take long for him to give up.” Jane paused to take a breath, stressed by recalling her less than great memories.

 

“I remember hearin' him shout. Mad, he was pissed. I don't blame him... didn't know he gave up right away, though. Woulda saved me a bit of heartache.” Mike said.

 

“Yeah. So we drove for a while in silence, but then Clem woke up. I didn't say anything to Kenny before, but once she was up and alright I tried to convince him to go back to Howe's. He wasn't having it, though. Insisting we go off and look for Wellington, freeze our asses off and die when it would've taken us a day to get back...” Jane stopped as she let out an angry groan at the thought of Kenny's stubbornness and persistence.

 

“You okay?” Mike asked.

 

Ignoring his question, Jane continued her tale. “We kept arguing for a while, until we almost crashed. Kenny got out to go look for some gas, and I tried to convince Clem to leave.”

 

“You were gonna leave Kenny to die?”

 

“I don't think you're in a position to talk about who left who to die.”

 

“Hey, that was different! Kenny would've killed Arvo! He--”

 

“Just save it.” Jane shot back angrily. She then placed a hand near her heart and continued, “He would've killed me.”

 

“Jesus... what the hell happened?” Was all Mike found himself able to say.

 

“It was... a stupid plan. God, was it a stupid plan. I wanted to convince Kenny to leave, if he was gonna get himself killed, fine, but I wasn't going to let him kill Clementine. I knew she'd follow him to her death, too, unless I did something. So I hid the baby. Convinced Kenny that he walkers got him, or something. Doesn't matter. He finally snapped, just like I planned. After Arvo, and everything else, I don't know why I didn't expect him to get physical, though.”

 

“So what happened?” Mike repeated once more.

 

“We fought for a bit, and I'll admit I got a bit too into it. Not that that matters now. He caught me off guard for a minute and stabbed my knife into my leg.” She took the knife that almost ended her life earlier the same day and gestured to the stab wound on her leg, “After that he had me pinned down... ready to drive it into my heart. But Clem, she... she shot him. She shot him to save me, because I started something I couldn't finish. God...”

 

“Jesus Christ...” Mike's eyes widened noticeably. “Where's Clem, though? The baby?”

 

Jane's face contorted to a much more guilty expression before continuing. “After Kenny... passed, the baby started crying. I hid him in some rundown car nearby, so it caught my attention right away. Clem's too. Long story short, she wasn't happy when I told her the truth.”

 

“So...”

 

“So, she left. With the baby, and whatever little remaining supplies we had. I asked for her forgiveness, but...”

 

“It's alright... don't cry. You look like you're gonna cry.” Mike said awkwardly in an attempt to comfort Jane.

 

“I'm not gonna cry. I'm just... I marched her out to her death. She's strong, but she can't make it out there. Alone, with the baby too... I'd be surprised if she hasn't frozen or starved to death already.” Jane said, guilt and regret prominent in her voice and face.

 

“Don't say that. Clem's stronger than most anyone I've ever met, adults included. I'd bet she's gonna do just fine.” Mike said reassuringly, patting the weary woman on the shoulder.

 

“Sorry for eavesdroppin', but I heard your story through the wall. Sounds like you've been through a lot today.” Bonnie said re-entering the room, placing a slightly opened metal can on the ground beside Jane. “Hope you like carrots. It's all we got left.” The redhead said with that same warm smile. Jane couldn't tell if it was genuine or if she was just good at forcing it, at this point.

 

“Thanks...” She said gratefully. She didn't feel particularly hungry, but she knew it had been forever since she had eaten.

 

“So uh, about them people in the RV. Mike...” Bonnie began, gesturing for Mike to speak up.

 

“Oh, right! Yeah, so, after what happened last night, runnin' through the woods and all, we lost Arvo. Don't know where he went, but I chased him for hours. Felt like hours, at least.” He stated.

 

“So it's freezin' and we're cold and lost and hungry. Mike wants to keep lookin' for Arvo, but I point out this RV I happened to see. Thinkin' maybe they could let us rest for a bit, maybe they could even help us find the kid.” Bonnie added, glancing back at Mike.

 

“I'll just cut to the chase: those people are fuckin' NUTS. I don't know what the hell their deal is, just that it's at least three dudes who would have blown our faces off if we weren't quicker. At least I think they were dudes. Fuck if I'd know...” Mike said, adding a confused sigh after he finished.

 

“After that, we took off into the forest and found this quaint lil' place. We rested for a few hours and they didn't find us, so we set out to look for food, or Arvo, or whatever we could find, really. That's when we saw someone walkin' down the road, and well...” Bonnie trailed off, shifting her glance to meet Jane's.

 

“Huh.” Jane responded, taking in the story of her acquaintances'. “Well, you didn't have to knock me out. I can handle myself just fine.”

 

“You were about to get yourself killed.” Mike argued.

 

“I could've been killed when you smashed that gun into the back of my head!”

 

Mike only shook his head and let out a groan, seemingly ignoring Jane's response. Instead, his thoughts traced back to Jane's story, to Kenny and Clementine and AJ.

 

“Damn... I can't believe it. Kenny is really dead, huh?”

 

“You can go see his corpse a couple miles north up the road, if you don't believe me.” Jane said coldly.

 

“Man, I believe you! I'm just sayin'... couldn't you have, I dunno, said something? Tell him the kid was alright?”

 

“I couldn't say anything or that'd ruin my plan. When it did come down to my life, I just sorta... I dunno, it didn't come to mind.”

 

“Well-- Jesus, man... just... it _not coming to mind_ got Kenny killed!”

 

“If it wasn't him, it was me!”

 

“I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't afraid of the guy, but come on, that's not an excuse!”

 

“How can you be trying to guilt me for this? He would've killed Arvo, he would've killed you, and he was about to kill me! Of course my mind was going to be in the moment and not on that plan.”

 

“Your _plan_ sounds like it got someone killed, and probably that kid you were tryin' to protect too!”

 

“Don't try to start shit with me! Don't forget who put us in that situation in the first place!”

 

“HEY!” Seemingly having enough of their arguing, Bonnie raised her voice, calling the attention of both of her peers to herself. “That's enough! Mike, Jane is right. Yeah, maybe her plan was dumb... but who are we to talk about dumb plans?”

 

Mike buried his head in his hands and gave another large sigh. “You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just on edge.. after everything that's happened.”

 

“It's... fine. Don't worry about it.” Jane said awkwardly, wanting to change the subject now that the opportunity was available.

 

“So, Jane...” Bonnie spoke up. “Now I ain't sayin' you gotta stick around. I know you're a lone wolf at heart, and we're probably at the top of your hit list, all things considered... but if you wanna stick around, you're welcome to. We got enough supplies for a few days, and we're headed south just like you. At least I'm assumin' you're headin' south, considerin' you were the first one to vouch for that back at the house.”

 

“Yeah. Carver's camp is our best bet.” Jane commented.

 

“Our? So you mean you'll stick around?” Bonnie replied in a grateful tone.

 

“Sure. I guess.” Jane offered in return. In truth, she didn't know why she was sticking around with them other than their supplies. They did help her, but knowing their track record they might just turn around and stab her in the back if it becomes convenient for them. They seemed genuine, though, or at least Bonnie did. She decided she would give them another chance, for the time being.

“Great. We'll leave in a couple hours, give you some time to relax. God knows you need it... just look at ya!” Bonnie said with a small laugh. Jane gave a confused expression in return. “Sorry, didn't mean nothin' by it.” The redheaded woman then went over to her male companion, telling him the news on the off chance he hadn't heard. She then made her way outside, presumably to keep watch or something similar.

 

“Hey Jane... I'm sorry... for, you know...” Mike said in a regretful tone, not specifying what he meant.

 

“Yeah. It's fine. Don't beat yourself up over it.” Jane assured the man, continuing to eat the food she was given earlier by Bonnie.

 

“I know we fucked up, I know he in particular fucked up, but... I've gotta find him.” Mike stated, attempting and failing to sound confident.

 

“Arvo?” Jane simply questioned.

 

“Yeah. You're comin' with us, right? Will you help look?” Mike said almost begging.

 

Jane gave an annoyed huff before turning to face the man, “Yeah, fine. But I'm not spending all day on some pointless manhunt. If we don't find any trace of him after a bit, I'm continuing south.”

 

“Yeah, thanks.” Mike said with a small smile. “I'm gonna go keep Bonnie company outside. Come get you in a bit, then we'll leave. Sound good?”

 

“Let me know when.” Jane said expressionless.

 

“Will do.” Mike said, making his way to the door and following Bonnie's footsteps.

 

Jane was now alone, with only the petite roars of the fireplace to keep her company. She could hear Mike and Bonnie's muffled voices from the other side of the door, but didn't bother attempting to make out what they said.

 

Instead, she found her thoughts drifting back to Clementine. Instead of vividly imagining the many different gruesome scenarios that could have overcome the young girl, Jane simply hoped that she was okay. She was strong, after all. She can manage, even with a baby, alone, with little food, in a blizzard...

 

The brunette woman quickly shook those thoughts from her mind, instead focusing intently on the metallic can in front of her, now emptied as she ate the last of the food inside. She glanced over to the bag Bonnie had taken it out of, the same purple bag they attempted to steal many hours earlier. Attempted and succeeded, apparently. Due to all the events that had taken place, Jane hadn't been able to totally process just what Bonnie, Mike, and Arvo had done.

 

Granted, with the way Kenny was acting, she didn't blame them entirely. That doesn't excuse what they did, though. Even still, she now found herself with the two people who had betrayed her hours earlier. She could only hoped that giving them another chance was the correct choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't say I thought this wasn't obvious, although by the few people I've had input from it, they were actually sorta shocked. Not that I'm complaining. This one is a bit longer than the previous and is more in line with about the length I expect. I hope you're enjoying so far, and that everyone is in character and nothing is too drawn out or anything. I know Jane isn't a fan favorite character (far from it), but I like her and I'm writing about her. If you enjoy (or don't and want to voice your friendly criticisms as to why), please give me some feedback. I appreciate everything. Comments, kudos, favorites, follows, whatever. Thank you for your time reading and I do hope you enjoyed! :)


	4. Russian Roulette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane, Mike, and Bonnie travel through the snow-covered forest looking for a familiar face before heading back to Carver's camp, but things are never that simple

Approx. 861 Days In, Early Dawn

 

It's always the little things that you take for granted.

 

Golden rays of sunlight shining through the open window, temporarily blinding groggy, tired eyes. Spending an amount of time laying in bed afterwards that most would call ridiculous, claiming that it's to “wake up”. Following this would be the daily routine of doing nothing exciting or remotely interesting, as the dawn turns to dusk, then settling down in the same position to do the same thing tomorrow.

 

Three years ago, it was how Jane lived her life. At the time, she didn't think much of it. She didn't complain, but it was just routine. While she may not have objected to a few more spices thrown onto the feast of her life, this was certainly not a good alternative.

 

Over eight-hundred days later, and it's more of a struggle to survive with each and every one that passes. Back in the past, having the time to rest a weary mind for a third of the day was an expectancy, nothing unusual. Nowadays, it was a miracle occurring once in a blue moon to have the ability to sit and recollect lost thoughts for five minutes.

 

So naturally, when an opportunity like this arises, Jane would be grateful for the ability to revel in something like this for once, even if she doesn't show it.

 

Golden rays of sunlight formed a warm and glistening sight on the ghostly white snow that was neatly set on the forest's floor. The sun slowly crept into the sky, Jane taking notice that she must have slept through the entirety of the night. She couldn't help but notice, also, that instead of heading for Howes, Mike had the trio looking for Arvo. In the middle of the woods, with no leads other than Mike's constant reassuring of _“He went this way!”._

 

They'd been looking for almost thirty minutes. This was stupid, and they were all wasting their time. Jane took this as a chance to break the silence, staring only straight forward as she spoke.

 

“This is stupid.” She said, disdain obvious in her tone. “We're wasting our time.”

 

“Come on. Don't be like that!” Mike said, quick to defend. “We've only been out here for what, ten minutes?”

 

“More like thirty.” Jane shot back. “We're not going to find him. We have nothing to go on.”

 

“You've been keepin' count?” Bonnie asked.

 

Jane only responded with a sigh and a roll of her eyes, instead opting to continue her train of thought. “We cut our losses and head back on the path, towards Howes.”

 

“But Arvo! He's-”

 

“He's dead. Or he's safe. He's not going to be just sitting in these woods somewhere, waiting for us to find him. If he _is_ still out here somehow and didn't find anything, we don't have the supplies to help him, anyway.” Jane finished, placing a hand on her hip.

 

“I know it's not likely, but we gotta look. We didn't go this far just to give up on him!” Mike protested, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow.

 

“Enough!” Bonnie shouted, grabbing the attention of her two companions. “We can compromise, alright? Jane, we can give it a bit more time, and if we don't find him, we'll head straight for Carver's place, alright?” The ginger-haired woman spoke, eyes darting between the other woman and Mike.

 

“Fine.” Jane spoke dignified, “but when we find him, and he's a walker, I'm not the one putting him down.” She added with a spiteful tone.

 

“Jane, don't say that!” Bonnie said wide-eyed, a mix of horror and disgust in her voice. Her voice calmed some before she spoke again, “Don't worry, Mike. We'll find him. Let's get movin'.”

 

 

Golden rays of sunlight shone brightly into Jane's eyes. It felt like they'd been walking for hours since the small argument earlier, but in reality she knew it was only around thirty minutes once more.

 

Jane gave an audible exhale at the thought of the time they were wasting, her breath visibly permeating in the forest's frigid winter air. Maybe it was a way to vent frustration, or perhaps it was a call for attention. Regardless, it seemed to catch Mike's, Jane noticing the man swaying his walking to meet hers.

 

“Hey, look. I know you think this is pointless, but he can't be much farther. We've been out here an hour now. We're gonna find him, and then we'll head to Howes.” He said, forming his frost-chapped lips into what seemed to be a smile. A painfully obvious fake-smile, but Jane gave him points for effort.

 

“What's got you clinging to him like this? All he's caused us is trouble.” Jane started, angrily. “Luke... Clem... and we're out here freezing, so _he_ can be the lucky one! The one who lives another day.”

 

Mike sighed, “That's not fair! You can't blame that stuff all on him, when me or Kenny or anyone else are just as guilty! I know you're upset about Clem, but--”

 

“ _Don't._ ” Jane cut the man off bitterly, contorting her face into an angry glare. The last thing she wanted to think about was Clementine. All she wanted to do was get to Howes where they'd be safe, but of course Mike had to make it difficult.

 

“Alright! Sorry...” Mike said awkwardly,“All I'm sayin' is, we've come too far on the kid to give up on him now. He deserves a second chance, just like anyone else.”

 

She wanted to scream. Scream at Mike for being such an idiot, for throwing away everything for some kid who is probably dead and did nothing but make their lives worse. She wanted to leave, just like she always did when things got difficult.

 

While she couldn't say just what it was, something felt different. Something that compelled her to stay, to make it work.

 

So she didn't scream. She continued walking in silence, to the right of Mike, Bonnie taking charge in front of the both of them. Jane thought about how unusual it was for Bonnie to be the one leading, but didn't think much of it.

“Hey.” The man to her left said softly.

 

Not expecting the noise after the silence they'd mutually shared for the past five or so minutes, she responded simply, “Hey.”

 

“I'm sorry about what happened. I didn't want to start shit, but I can't give up on him.”

 

“I understand.” She nodded swiftly, not in the mood to argue.

 

“And, uh, about Clem--”

 

“Look, I don't--”

 

“Just let me finish.” Mike said, stepping over the the literary mess the duo's words had just created. “I'm sorry about bringing up Clem like that earlier. It... wasn't cool. I know what it's like to mess up, to do something you ain't proud of, believe me.”

 

“Don't we both.” The brunette said solemnly, eyes burrowing into the snow-coated dirt as she marched.

 

“Heh. Yeah. I guess so.” Mike replied, shifting his gaze away from the woman. “I was involved in some stuff I don't like remembering.”

 

“Like what?” Jane asked, her interest sparked.

 

“Back when all this started, the first few months...” He paused,

The two walked in an awkward silence. Once again, the only sound to grace any ears was the sound of the raging blizzard, determined to consume anything in a wake of frost and wind.

 

Unusually, it wasn't Jane who was keeping her distance from the group. Bonnie was far ahead of the two of them, being the first to trek the path they followed. The woman seemed to be lost in some sort of thought, continuing her walk ahead in a trance.

 

Opting to leave Bonnie to what she was doing, Jane divided her attention elsewhere. Back off into her own thoughts, perhaps. While the complaints she had traveling with others could fill a list longer than that of the most spoiled child list for Santa, she definitely welcomed the distraction it gave from her inner conscious.

 

She welcomed it when she turned over and saw Mike about to say something, before hearing the woman in front of her give out an exaggerated, “Ow!” after a particularly long tree branch struck across her face, carving in red along the path it crossed. Mike seemed to notice this as well, prompting him to speak up.

 

“You alright, Bonnie?”

 

“Yeah, I'm fine. Nicked myself good there, but I'll get by alright...” Bonnie said, bringing her hand up to her cheek. Taking a bit of blood down with it as she brought it back to her side, she continued her walk, Jane and Mike not far behind.

 

Once again, the now-familiar dead hum of the chilling winds burrowed into her ears. Both confused by Bonnie's vast attitude change, and intimidated by the encroaching silence, Jane decided to question Mike on the matter. She always preferred when other people were the ones to start a conversation, but it's not really possible to be choosy anymore.

 

“Hey.” She said in an awkward tone, starting off the conversation about as well as she had expected.

 

“Hey.” The man replied back, an influx of boredom in his voice.

 

“ _How should I ask this?_ ” The question rolled around in her head, clearly giving her a bit of trouble.

 

“You alright?” Mike asked, a bit more concern in his voice.

 

“Oh, um, yeah. It's just... what happened to her?”

 

“Bonnie? Whaddya mean?”

 

“I dunno, I figured you'd know her better than I would.” She admitted. “I know she isn't usually this distant, though.”

 

“Nah. That's you, if anyone! ...Usually.” Mike added with a small, forced laugh. Jane only stared awkwardly for a moment before Mike continued. “I think she's just a bit intimidated by you. Surprised, maybe.”

 

“Really? How come?” Lowering her tone slightly with the fear of Bonnie overhearing, Jane turned her head to see the woman still marching in front of her, concentration unwavered from the forest floor she followed contently. She turned back to Mike after hearing him speak once more.

 

“Last night, she was tellin' me how much she regrets doing what we did. She thinks you hate her, I think.”

 

While Jane still had a bitter taste in her mouth thinking about the 'stunt' Bonnie and Mike pulled, she was willing to put it behind them in the interest of what was happening now. She held no contempt for the woman, but as she thought about it, it made sense that she'd feel how she did about the events.

 

Before either of them could open their mouths to speak, an ear-splitting screech filled the air. The duo hastily averted their attention to the source of the noise.

 

Bonnie was suddenly and, rather pitifully, holding back a lone walker, said walker being mere inches away from tearing into the woman's throat. "Help! Please! G-Get it off me!", she pleaded desperately.

 

Springing to her defense, Jane quickly made a dash for the woman and her rotting assailant.

 

“Mike! Smash this thing!” She screamed, hoping he would follow without question.

 

“Just do it!” He shouted back, bringing his foot down with force as Jane threw the walker onto the ground, freeing Bonnie.

 

“Jesus... that was close. Bonnie, you okay?” Mike gestured towards the woman, briefly staring down at the corpse he had just permanently put out of commission.

“I'm so sorry, I-- I wasn't payin' attention, I just--”

 

While Mike attempted to comfort Bonnie, Jane's attention was caught by the recently mangled corpse that lay still in a pile of crimson snow. More specifically, the blood that coated the creature's mouth, having been bathed on it's teeth seemingly recently.

 

“This thing is covered in blood.” Jane said aloud.

 

“I ain't bit! I swear!” Bonnie defended, voice cracking as she shouted.

 

“We can't take any chances. Mike, check her for bites.”

 

“Yeah. Okay.” Mike complied, as did Bonnie. The latter of which stretching her arms to her sides as Mike searched for any damage.

 

“Well?” Jane said, a bit too impatiently.

 

“I don't see anything.” Mike answered blankly.

 

“I ain't bit. I just got jumped, that's it!” Bonnie said, having calmed down considerably, “There's blood on the snow, and it ain't mine. I was lookin' at it and the damn thing got the jump on me... I'm sorry, I shoulda been ready, I--”

 

“It's alright, don't worry about it. Just, uh, be more careful, yeah?” Mike teased, patting the woman gently on the shoulder.

 

“You don't gotta tell me twice.” She returned, giving a nervous, half-hearted laugh, “Jane, what are you lookin' at?”

 

Jane had occupied herself with the blood Bonnie had mentioned, assuming it wasn't the woman in question's blood herself, it was an interesting discovery. While blood is hardly a sight to take note of in the world they live in now, the scarlet trail was light and, upon touch, rather warm for the snow it lay in.

 

“This blood is fresh.” Jane stated. “And it's not yours, Bonnie?”

 

“No. Check me again if you don't believe me, honest!”

 

“I believe you. Relax.” The woman shot back, mildly irritated. “But if it's not ours, and it's not a walkers...”

 

“Then he's gotta be nearby! Shit, he might be hurt...” Mike said anxiously.

 

“ _Might_?” Jane shot back, “Whoever this was, they were hit pretty hard to leave more than a few drops of blood like this. Besides, we don't even know if it's him.”

 

“Who else is gonna be out in the middle of the freezing cold woods?”

 

“Nobody is sitting at home drinking hot chocolate out of their goddamn coffee mug, Mike. It could be anyone, there's nothing telling us this was Arvo.”

 

“I mean, it coulda been one of those guys from the RV, Mike...”, Bonnie added.

 

“Exactly!” Jane said, visibly happy that someone was finally showing some sense.

 

“But I still think we should follow it. It's our best bet at findin' the kid, and we're already out here.” Bonnie concluded, much to Jane's dismay.

 

“Look, Jane, I know you think this is a waste of time. But we'll check this out, and if we find him, or we don't, or whatever... then we'll do what you want.” Mike said, bargaining with the now irritated woman.

 

“It's not what _I_ want, it's what's best for all of us. But fine, we'll finish your little search. Just be prepared for the worst.” Jane pessimistically finished.

 

Mike didn't reply verbally, only forming a small but noticeable frown before leading the trio's walk along the scattered blood trail.

 

“You didn't need ta say that.” Bonnie said, surprisingly stern. Jane opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off, “It's fine. I just... we're all we got left, now. We gotta help each other out, not put each other down, yeah?”

 

“...yeah.” Jane agreed, feeling slightly bad about her eagerness to share her unpopular opinion. She was only being honest, though; they probably wouldn't find him. Even if they did, from the looks of it, he had been bitten or at least injured. She decided to keep this to herself, though, and followed behind her two companions at a slow but determined pace.

 

 

The trail didn't last long, maybe a full minute, but even that was stretching the truth. It felt longer, though. A lot of things did. The trail had winded a bit, almost as if the being that left the trail had a set destination in mind.

 

When the trail ran cold, the trio were met with a sight they weren't particularly jumping to see.

 

“That's the RV. This trail ends here, it's the only place he, or whoever, coulda gone...” Bonnie assessed.

 

“Shit... shit. What do we do?” Mike asked. “We shouldn't fuck with those guys. We're lucky they didn't chase us before, but damn were they mad. Who knows what they'd do to us if we just showed up at their door?”

 

The two both looked over at the brunette-haired woman, who now seemed to default to the defacto leader of their group when the others didn't want to carry the burden.

 

“Why is it on me? This wasn't my idea, and plus, you've seen these guys. I haven't.” Jane argued.

 

“Fuck, I don't know... maybe-- maybe we should just go. I really don't wanna mess with these guys, man.”

 

“What are we up against, exactly?” Jane said, kneeling down behind a bush to get a better glimpse of the vehicle the three were watching. It stood out well in the snow-covered field, bordering the edge of the forest they found themselves in.

 

“Uhh.. There was these three guys, they had guns and they chased us around fer a bit. Or, they were gonna. I dunno, we lost 'em fast if they did chase us. We made it a point to not go too close, not get seen outta the forest, but then we saw you, an' you know from there.” Bonnie re-accounted, positioning herself behind a tree to avoid any unwanted attention.

 

“Yeah, they were real crazy. Shoutin' and shit, I think one of them might've even fired a shot or two.” Mike added, finding a comfortable position of his own among the foliage.

 

“Hmm...” Jane hummed under her breath. “I still think we should cut and go. If this isn't a sign, I don't know what is.” She concluded.

 

“You wanna just up an' give up after we spent all day out here?” Bonnie protested.

 

“I didn't want to waste our time on this search in the first place.” Jane said bitterly, “but if we're going through with this, let's get it over with. No point in wasting time.”

 

“Mike?” Bonnie questioned, “What should we do?”

 

“Fuck, man... fuck... alright. If you're both willing to go through with it... let's do it.” Mike answered, his voice drifting away gradually as he spoke. “I just hope we aren't wasting our time, that they've got him and are fixin' him up or somethin'.”

 

As the trio crept slowly upon the stationary, likely no longer functioning vehicle, Jane couldn't shake the trumping thought of just how stupid this idea really was. These men have guns, and according to Bonnie and Mike, don't take well to strangers. If they did have Arvo, why would they be fixing him up? Would Arvo even be here? Before Jane could sit on the thought any longer, the three of them were already lined up against the backside of the RV.

 

“Alright, we're here. What next?” Mike whispered to Jane, the brunette woman simply gesturing for her two companions to follow.

 

“Here.” She said, taking a stance to the right of the door. Mike situated himself to the left, and Bonnie remained in the back, not far behind Mike. “Do we know if anyone's in here, or what?”

 

“Well, I don't know why there wouldn't be anyone in there... I'm starting to have second thoughts about this.”

 

“God...” Jane mumbled under her breath, “This is stupid. I'm going to peek in the window on the door there. If there's anyone in there we don't know, we leave, Arvo or no. If there isn't, we'll go in, sound good?”

 

“Yeah... yeah, okay. Let's do that. We should--” Mike cut off his own speech, going silent as he heard a noise that sounded like a door opening.

 

The RV's door flung open, revealing a bulky man in a thin, dirty white shirt and cargo pants, not at all appropriate for the freezing weather they were all experiencing. The man stood confidently, holding a pistol in his hand with his other hanging idle.

 

“Heh. I didn't expect any visitors.” His voice was gravelly, with a prevalent tone of sarcasm. “I'd like to know what brings you folks to our humble little abode here. We weren't disturbin' you, were we?”

 

Jane opened her mouth to answer the man, but Mike had her beat to the punch, “No, we're only looking for our friend. He's got glasses and a purple hoodie, and his hair's sorta a dirty blonde, and...”

 

“Maybe I've seen him, I'll think about it. Listen, it's _real_ chilly out, and I'm eager to chat, but I think it might be better if we could... discuss things inside, maybe?” He said, ending off with an intimidating grin. Jane could tell from a mile away that his intentions weren't well. “Inside, please.” He pointed his pistol at Mike, then Jane, then ushered the both of them inside.

 

Jane reluctantly followed behind Mike into the vehicle. Jane's attention was quickly drawn to the fact that their trio had been reduced to a duo. “ _Where the hell did Bonnie go?_ ”, she thought, not risking speaking aloud in case her captor would overhear. She was right behind Mike until the door opened, she recalled.

 

Her worry for Bonnie was shaken after a forceful shove to her back, forcing her into the mobile home along with her ally. Taking one last look outside, the golden rays of sunshine slowly diminished, instead being overtaken by the dim, tired lighting of their prison. They were at the whim of this man, this stranger she'd never met before.

 

Had Bonnie abandoned them? Would they make it out of here alive? Jane could only exchange worried glances with Mike as the duo's hands were tied and mouths gagged, their bodies sat down on a less than comfortable couch as they contemplated their fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! First things first: I am extremely sorry about the lack of updates. I've been wanting to work on this for a long while, and it took me over a month, but I finally delivered! A mix of laziness and procrastination, and life stress is not a good one for your writing hobbies, by the way.
> 
> Updates will be more regular, around one a week! I'm going to try to keep that deadline this time (but I won't force it if I need more time for quality). If this is your first time reading this, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy what I have and what's to come! And if you're back after the month hiatus, thanks for coming back after such a ridiculous wait. I probably wouldn't have. But all the same, I hope you enjoy what I have and what's to come!
> 
> I think this chapter is pretty good, maybe the best of the four so far. It might not be perfect but I'm happy with it, at least.
> 
> I don't have much else to say off the top of my head, so I'm going to let this upload. I'll add anything else here if I feel the need to do so. Please, let me know what you thought! Anything good, anything bad; it's all appreciated. Feedback is what I love most!


	5. Recreational Retribution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane and Mike find themselves in an unfamiliar situation and are at a loss of hope, and Bonnie is nowhere to be seen.

_Today is the day we die._

That's the message Jane gathered looking at her companion Mike's face, gagged and on the verge of tears. She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared herself; it wouldn't be the first time she would have lied in recent memory, either, though.

"Whrr shh hh?" Mike mumbled, barely audible through the rag binding his mouth but apparently being enough to get the attention of the man who was watching over them. The one-armed man leaned over and tugged the rag down slightly, allowing Mike to speak.

"You got somethin' to say? Well..  _say it_." He said, somewhat unconfidently.

"I said,  _where is he?_ " It was obvious he was still hung up about Arvo, but Jane held her thoughts on how pointless that was, especially in the situation they were in now. Not that she had the ability to speak up on it, regardless.

"Wh.. who is he?" The man stuttered. He admittedly looked rather pathetic, whimpering at just the slightly hostile voice of a both gagged and bound man.

"Christ Almighty, Ted, you really are pathetic. The man is gagged, he can't move his limbs, and you're still a jumpy shit." The man in the driver's seat said aloud with a groan. Ted gave a whine before putting the gag back over Mike's mouth, not wanting to embarrass himself further.

"Whrr-" Mike started, but was cut off before he could continue.

"Don't you worry, pal. This'll be done real soon... there's a lot in store for the both of you, after all." The man said, giving himself an odd, low-belly laugh. Activity in the RV simmered down after that, Jane giving Mike a look that said something along the lines of ,  _it's not worth the effort._

Regardless, whatever Mike interpreted her stare as seemed to get through to him, as the two could only sit in silence as their captors took them to whatever it was they "had in store". As they rode in silence, Jane couldn't help but slowly drift off to sleep, only disturbed once or twice by an odd bump on the outside of the vehicle, or the driver's incessant coughing.

* * *

While being kidnapped is far from ideal, it does, in this situation, provide an opportunity for one to sleep relatively comfortably. Not sure how long it'd been, Jane was only awoken when the RV came to a stop. Not too sudden, as it didn't seem to wake the man bound next to her, but perhaps he's just a heavier sleeper.

"Are we there?" Ted spoke in his wavering tone he's had the whole time. You'd think he was the one being kidnapped, Jane thought.

"That's a real stupid question, Ted. You know that?" The driver said, his tongue heavy with arrogance, "But I'm gonna let it slide just 'cause we don't got the time for it. At this rate, it'll be long past nightfall before we make it back."

"As long as we're in the RV, we should be safe, right, Artie? The walkers-" Ted said.

"Walkers ain't the problem, Ted. Pull your head outta your ass." Artie said venomously, "If we aren't back soon they're gonna think we're up to something. Just don't be such a chickenshit for once and tell me you can watch these two while I go find the key, so I can get what we're here for and we can get back."

"Um.. alright. Don't you have the key? Why not just keep it on you?" Ted asked curiously.

"Jesus, Ted, we don't have time for your twenty questions. It's gotta stay out in case someone else comes by. We're not the only ones who run this route. Just watch them, I'll be back soon. You can do that, right, Ted? Right?"

"Yeah, I'll watch them.. no problem! You can count on me." Ted said with a small, worried smile, making the effort to try and mask his lack of actual confidence.

Without talking, Artie gave Ted a bone-chilling look that said "Don't fuck this up or you're gonna pay the price," slamming the door to the RV shut as he left. That seemed to be enough to wake Mike up, if the jolt against Jane's back was any indication.

"Whrr thh hll rrr whh!?" Mike shouted, hardly legible.

"Hey! Hey, calm down! I'll.. I'm gonna take your gags off. Can I do that? I'm gonna do that, and you guys..." Ted said awkwardly, not bothering to finish his thought and instead opting to remove the gags from Jane as well as Mike's mouths.

"These things taste like ass. Where have you been keeping them?" Jane said, spitting out snark to relieve whatever stress that could help manage.

"Nevermind that! Where are we? Who are you? What do you want with us? Where-" Ted cut Mike off, shushing him with his one hand.

"Hey, calm down with the questions! I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to do any of this.. but it's how I have to survive. I'm lucky to be on this end of this whole thing and not your end..." He trailed off.

"We didn't ask for the life story of the guy who just kidnapped us." Jane snapped back.

"Look! I know! This must  _really suck_  for you guys! But I promise, where we're going, it's better than where you were before. Which was out in the middle of nowhere, in the freezing cold. I'm a nice guy... I took your gags off even though you're just gonna be ungrateful! You should be thanking me!"

"Thanking you? You have us gagged like fuckin' pigs, man. ...Are you gonna eat us!? Is that what this !?" Mike said, panicked and angry.

"If you're such a nice guy, why don't you let us go while your friend is gone? You can even come with us; I don't get the feeling that you two are on great terms at all." Jane said, hoping to persuade the man long enough to let them escape. If they had to put a knife in his back later, either metaphorically or literally, he deserves it.

"Artie's the reason I'm still here." Ted said, gesturing to his stump-arm. "He's also the reason I'm able to keep my position. Guarantee my safety. I'll let him bully me if he wants because it keeps me alive."

"Doesn't sound like a very fulfilling way to live." Mike said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well, neither does starving and freezing. Like, might I remind you again, you guys were doing until just earlier. ...Oh, yeah, speaking of which, I've got stuff for you to eat. Hold on a sec, and  _don't_  tell Artie. I'm being a lot nicer than I need to, here, so keep your mouths shut!" Ted said, turning to a nearby counter and digging through the cabinets in search of something.

While his back was turned, Jane noticed something very peculiar, and Mike seemed to pick up on it as well without prompting. At the front of the RV, right above the windshield, were a pair of human arms reaching down. Slowly but surely the figure worked it's way down the windshield, until it was clear that Bonnie had just crawled off of the RV, and was now standing outside the RV's door.

Once she had vanished from view, Jane knew they would need to distract Ted to help Bonnie's rescue. Mike called out to Ted, "Hey, so uh... what have you got, exactly? I'm sorry I'm so antsy.. I guess you're right about us starving.".

"Well, look who suddenly came around." Ted put on a smile and laughed, not amusing either Mike or Jane (but the both of them faking a laugh for the man). "Don't worry about it. And here, it's not too much, but I've got some granola. I have no idea how old this thing is, but I don't think it can kill you or anything just because it's old." He said, holding the bar up to Jane's mouth. "Ladies first. I'd unbind you, but I'm scared you'll kill me or something."

"Smart thinking." Jane replied, taking a bite of the granola. It was stale as possible, Jane thought, but anything is good when you're starving.

When Mike's turn came, he tried his best to put on a happy face and appease his captor, but he could only grunt after biting the food. "Beggars... really can't be choosers, huh?" He said, followed by either a laugh or a gag.

"Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches, like-" Ted quickly shut his mouth when he heard the door to the RV open. "Artie! I didn't expect you back so fast!", he shouted, shoving the granola into his own mouth and hastily gagging Mike again to hide the scenario.

Instead of Artie's irritating, gravelly complaining, however, Ted was met with a hand to the back of his collar, and soon after the floor as he was knocked cold onto it. "Gimme one of those rags!", Bonnie yelled anxiously.

Mike spit out the gag that was shoved forcibly into his mouth seconds earlier into Bonnie's hand, Ted not having the chance to tie it at all. Bonnie tied the man's good arm to his other, and kept her foot on his back so he couldn't get up. "Need somethin' to cut these with." She said, tugging at the ropes on Jane's hands.

"My knife is in my pockets. On the left." Jane said, gesturing with a head nod to her left. Mike moved slightly out of the way so Bonnie could obtain the knife, and cut the remaining hindrances on both of her companions.

"Nice work, Bonnie! How the hell did you do it?" Mike said, excited. "Were you on the roof of this damn thing the whole ride? Is that even possible!?"

"There's a ladder to the roof on the back of the thing. I hung onto that for a while, but I had to climb on top since I was scared someone was gonna come out 'n see me. Luckily it wasn't movin' all that fast, so it was nothin' once I got the chance."

"I'm not gonna lie; I half expected you to bail on us." Jane said, taking her knife back from Bonnie. "Not that I would've blamed you, though. This whole situation is pretty fucked."

"I appreciate you havin' faith in me." Bonnie said with a flat, unamused tone. "You remember that I just saved your asses, right?"

"I.. yeah. Sorry." Jane said, regretting making the comment. "So... what are we gonna do about this guy?" She said gesturing to Ted, who lay quiet on the floor, visibly shaking with the three people above him. "I guess now the cap **tor**  is the cap **tive** , huh?"

"I think he's pretty shaken up. Let's just throw him out and get moving before his friend gets back." Mike suggested.

As Mike picked up the outnumbered man by his collar off the floor and made his way to the door, Jane made her way to the driver's seat. Bonnie rummaged through the cabinets on her own as her two companions did their tasks, "There sure ain't a lot of stuff left in this hunk a' junk. Must all be wherever they were headed."

"We've got a problem." Jane said aloud, catching everyone's attention.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked from the other side of the RV, "What's the problem?"

"The problem is this thing is just about out of gas. Without a refill, we're getting a mile if we're lucky." Jane sighed.

"The place outside, it's a building of sorts. I'd wager they're usin' it as some sorta outpost, so maybe they've got some in there?"

"It would explain why we had to stop here," Mike said, "if this wasn't our last stop."

"What about him, though?" Bonnie said, gesturing to the man Mike held up against the flimsy RV door.

"...You two go in. I'll keep an eye on him." Mike decided pensively.

"Are you sure? He's only got one good arm, Mike," Bonnie said, "reminds me of Reggie. 'Cept, you know, Reggie didn't kidnap people."

Ted groaned, perhaps out of grief from her comment or from the uncomfort of his situation. Regardless, nobody payed his cry much mind, and he didn't seem to want to draw attention as he made no further noise.

"Bonnie, let's go now. Who knows how long 'til that creep gets back." Jane said, peering out the door to see the coast was clear.

"Right behind you," Bonnie said, closing the door behind her, "Be careful, Mike. If that guy comes back... well, you'll figure something out. We'll be fast, and we'll be close."

"Thanks, Bonnie." Mike said, sighing, "Hurry back..."

"Ohh, no..." Ted sighed under his breath.

"What?" Mike said, eyebrows raised.

"Uhm... Let's just hope for everyone's sake they don't get into too much trouble. I don't think they're gonna like what they find in there." Ted said nervously, "I can tell you now that that gas is the least of your worries."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Author's Notes. This was uploaded August 30th, 2015 for future reference/so this doesn't become dated.)
> 
> I apologize for the absence of about eight months. It was a mix of laziness and lack of motivation, as well as other things. But here's the next chapter.
> 
> Not that it took me eight months, but I did put extra time into this one that I didn't previously put into the others for quality assurance/re-reading for improvements and errors fixes. I hope it's satisfying, and know that I'm already working on chapter 6. I plan to have it out sometime soon, possibly a week, but it's up to you if you want to trust me on that. I did take almost nine months after promising a weekly or so release, last I remember, so that's fair.
> 
> If you spot any errors, any oddities, or anything you appreciate, or just anything you want to say at all, feel free to leave me a review. I really appreciate them, and I also appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read my fic. Merci!

**Author's Note:**

> This is a repost of my story that I first posted on ff.net about two weeks ago. It's three chapters in (as of writing this) and it's currently in progress, it's planned to be decently long. If you enjoy, please let me know, feedback means a lot :)


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